Alcohol Use in Shillong, Meghalaya: A Study among the Migrant College Students from the Neighboring States of Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram

Abstract

Every year, tens of thousands of students come to Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, from the neighboring states of Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram to pursue for higher studies since the headquarters of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) is located in Shillong, those pursuing undergraduate and post-graduate studies found a convenient place to come to. However, a large proportion of the students come from these three states where drinking or consumption of alcohol is a part of their tradition and folklore, but ironically, their states are "dry states” where successive governments, succumbing to the demands from churches and other pressure groups, have prohibited sale of alcohol by law. This apparent "contradiction” has its bearing on them the moment they come to Shillong. Meghalaya is a "wet state” and in Shillong, its capital city, alcohol of any make and price is available in every nook and corner. The study assumes greater significance in the light of the high incidence of HIV/AIDS cases reported from the North East India, especially from Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram where a substantial number of students have been infected by the deadly virus (PRB, 2003). In this connection an attempt has been made to study their alcohol use by various background characteristics. The present study has been conducted among 556 migrant college students in Shillong representing 15 colleges using self-administered questionnaires. Off 556 students, only 32.2 percent were found consuming alcohol where males consumed higher (22.8%) than females (9.3%). Majority of the migrant students in Shillong mostly drank alcohol in bars, inside their hostel premises and in friend's rented house at the time of their celebrations. The frequencies of using alcohol among the migrant students are mostly on an occasional basis. Majority of the students preferred to drink all types of mixed brands, followed by beer, rum and whisky. Males drank mostly hard drinks such as rum and whisky while females mostly drank beer, wine and breezer. Those students who smokes, and who chews bettle nut and gutkas were significantly more likely to use alcohol in Shillong which were predicted in the logistic regression model. The appropriate authorities in the fields of both educational and public health need to wake up and help the students who engage in risky behavior. Counseling as well as de-addiction/detoxification centers should be opened up in an educational hub such as in Shillong so that the afflicted students can go and seek remedy for their problems. Students coming from the states of Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram and also other centers of learning or in mainland India, should be counseled both in their hometown as well as in centers of distance learning, on the need for maintaining a decent non-risky behavior. State government  in all the states should opened up educational counseling centers, especially for students who are passing out their  HSLC/ICSE/CBSE examinations, especially for those who intend to migrate to other cities for higher studies and explain to them the dangers  or the consequences which lies ahead of them in big cities like Shillong.